Poet Reporter
A different kind of reporting, through the eyes of a poet.
Restaurantland's Weird Herd
Money is a sensitive issue, outside of a restaurant, that is. But in the world of restaurants, the whole mentality about money is different…
Thought #7
I’ve been assigned an editor for one of my writing projects. My first thought: “Wow! They think I’m important enough to have an editor!” My second thought: “Hey! They think I stink and I need an editor!”
Short Story Contest: John Baker
My friend Patrick emailed me on a Sunday a few weeks ago and said he'd just come across an NPR writing contest, and that the deadline was midnight, Eastern Time…
Eyes Closed
Friday, June 7, I read for Cracked Walnut at The Salon in Rochester. I’d been racking my brain on what to read, pretty much since the invitation to speak arrived weeks ago…
The Welcome Door
As my Facebook friends know, last night I posted this: “I’m on church vestry. It’s like Congress, and just as methodical and slow-moving. Tonight, however, we ‘DMC-fast-tracked*’ the same sex marriage issue…”
The Curious Thing
As we wind down the Sunday School year and practice for this year’s finale, I’m reminded of last year where my second and third grade class acted out Moses parting the Red Sea in front of the parish parents…
Putting Upside Down Kingdom on the Roof
Belated Happy Earth Day, All! Here’s a little thinking outside the box… Upside Down Kingdom is sponsoring a straw bale this summer! Söntés Restaurant in Rochester, Minnesota, where I work, write, and because my office is there, essentially live…
Inspiration Behind Library Talk March 28
I’ve been invited to speak at the Rochester Public Library at 7 p.m. this Thursday (March 28) as part of the Library’s Visiting Author Series.Months ago when we set this up, I thought when the day finally came I’d be terrified to speak. But I said yes…
How Many of Me Do You See?
What have I been doing lately, you ask? Ta da! What follows is a Tall Tale speech I gave that took first place at my ToastMasters Club in February, and placed third at the Rochester Area level competition last Saturday…
Landstuhl Postcards
Excerpt from my Germany 2012 travel journals, with my friends Keith and Johanna…
It’s late summer here in Landstuhl, Germany. The sun is shining and the air is clean…
Sea of Galilee
Excerpt from my 2011 Israel journals… This morning, we went to the Chapel of the Primacy along the edge of the Sea of Galilee. Our guide Hani explained that this church was made of black basalt stone.
Hani told us how the Sea is really a lake, and how the original transcribers translated it incorrectly...
Welcome Home
This excerpt is from my Israel travel journals. As some of my good friends have traveled back to Israel this week and I am excitedly reading their updates, missing them and the land itself…
Distracted
On a January Monday, a table of three came in for dinner—a couple with their adult daughter…